There are some endings that don’t just conclude a story; they tear you apart. That is the brutal, beautiful reality of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. While the series delivers an undeniable dose of emotional devastation, it does so by unflinchingly examining the darkest corners of the cyberpunk landscape—the corrupt ideas surrounding success and legacy in a world that treats people as disposable assets.
The final moments of the show leave no room for easy catharsis. David’s fate, coupled with some of the more jarring interactions throughout Night City, solidifies the series as a profound, albeit painful, meditation on existence. It forces us to confront the stark truth: in this neon-drenched dystopia, there are simply no neat resolutions.
But what if the heartbreak isn’t the endpoint? A fascinating conversation with the show’s writer and producer, Bartosz Sztybor, delves into the darker possibilities that linger just beneath the surface of the narrative. When pressed on the inevitability of a ‘happy ending,’ Sztybor offered a punchline that felt less like a joke and more like an existential threat to the established reality.
“There was never a happy ending,” Sztybor stated plainly. He followed this with a sobering counter-thought: “There were even worse endings.”
The implication is chilling. If we remove the comfort of tragedy and explore genuinely grim alternatives, the stakes shift dramatically. Sztybor posited a scenario where David avoids oblivion entirely—an ending in which Arasaka claims him and forces him into corporate warfare in Africa or South America as a robot. Or perhaps, even more unsettling, the possibility that he could become a reprogrammed Adam Smasher cyborg.
This hypothetical future is profoundly disturbing. The notion of David’s consciousness being forcibly separated from his body, trapped within machinery to fight for capital, strips away all semblance of human love or free will. It transforms the narrative from a tragic story into pure existential horror, even if it remained perfectly rooted in the setting’s grim reality.
The integrity of the emotional impact hinges on maintaining that difficult truth. The writers make a crucial choice: they protect the memories and experiences of their characters by refusing to introduce these kind of devastating technological reprogramming or resurrection scenarios. It is a testament to their narrative skill that they keep the focus firmly on the lived suffering of the characters, rather than venturing into the truly grotesque realm of digital immortality.
Ultimately, Sztybor remains adamant about the canonical ending: David must remain dead and buried. He suggested that if David were resurrected, finding Lucy and having seven children would simply erase those powerful feelings entirely—a harsh reminder that sometimes, the most meaningful tragedies are best left undisturbed in the shadows of Night City.
As we look ahead to the next chapter of this narrative, the focus remains on navigating the emotional fallout of what has already been shown. The inevitable return promises another dose of emotional intensity as fans await the sequel this fall.
Buy on Amazon
Credit: PC Gamer
